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Topic: Midi guitar to notation software |
Leon Grizzard
From:
Austin, Texas, USA
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Posted 21 Jun 2006 11:10 am |
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| I have Finale music notation software. I would like to be able to input data using a midi guitar pickup, like the Roland GK-2a. Anyone know what else I need- just a midi interface, or do I need synth also to notate bends etc? |
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Jon Moen
From:
Canada
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Posted 21 Jun 2006 6:02 pm
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| You need a pitch to midi converter (interface) such as a Roland GI-10 and a Midi to USB adaptor (which is what I have). Or a GI-20 which has a USB out, or comparable unit. Your computer has a synth in it already so you can set that up to hear your playing. You have to set up the bend parameter properly on your interface. You don't need a synth at all but you won't be able to hear what you are playing. Be prepared to do a lot of practicing to get it right. |
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Gary Shepherd
From:
Fox, Oklahoma, USA
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Posted 23 Jun 2006 12:12 pm
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Jon, have you tried the GI-20? I have a GR-33 that I don't use much anymore with my Roland Ready Strat. The GI-20 looks interesting.
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Gary Shepherd
Carter D-10
www.16tracks.com
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Leon Grizzard
From:
Austin, Texas, USA
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Posted 23 Jun 2006 1:32 pm
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"You don't need a synth at all but you won't be able to hear what you are playing. Be prepared to do a lot of practicing to get it right."
Jon - What do you mean by that, please? |
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Jon Moen
From:
Canada
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Posted 23 Jun 2006 4:40 pm
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Gary, I have not tried the GI-20. I found the GI-10 on Ebay. I read that Jennifer Batten used one. I actually got to ask her at a local music store if she still used it(She is really a great guitar player!!). She still did use it at the time. I have not used mine a lot yet, but once the pickup is set up and the parameters in the GI-10 are tweaked it is really fun. I have a Yamaha TX81Z and DX7 and the soundcard synth to play with. Even with these old synths there are a lot of useful sounds. You have to pick very cleanly though as any string noise triggers a sound.
Leon, when you use a midi guitar, you are sending midi data. This is digital information that a synthesizer translates back into sounds, with all the note on, note off, pitch, pitch bend data. If all you had was a midi guitar and interface, you could send the information to your notation software without hearing it. However, with the pitch bend, there are various settings for different sounds. You can have a slight bend of the string make a huge bend on the synth (or Tab software), or you can have no bend enabled. This is what you would use for a piano sound as pianos can't bend notes. If all you want is a guitar sound in your tab you will still need to adjust the bend range because the Tab software needs to know how many notes to bend. So, if you want to enter all your playing in Tab software, you will want to play it back (via a synth of some kind) so that you can hear if you made mistakes or adjust notes. The playback is a midi file to a synth of your choosing. You can send these midi files to anyone to play on their computer.
Possibly too much info. If confusing ask all the questions you want. |
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Leon Grizzard
From:
Austin, Texas, USA
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Posted 23 Jun 2006 5:14 pm
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| Jon - Thank you so much for answering further. I understand about needing to properly adjust the pitch bend for my notation software. But don't you hear what you are doing in real time, through your computer speakers, as you play it and look at the notation on the monitor? |
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Jon Moen
From:
Canada
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Posted 23 Jun 2006 6:20 pm
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| If you have your computer synthesizer set up as the primary midi device, then yes that is what you will hear. |
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Leon Grizzard
From:
Austin, Texas, USA
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Posted 23 Jun 2006 7:14 pm
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| Okay, I understand. With just this introductory talk, I almost have myself talked out of it. Hope I can build on that. |
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Gary Shepherd
From:
Fox, Oklahoma, USA
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Posted 23 Jun 2006 8:04 pm
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I never really found as much use for my MIDI guitar in my recordings as I though I would. The MIDI tracks that I did with the guitar sounded much better than just entering notes with a mouse but there's really no substitute for a real fiddle player, or a real trumped, sax, etc... player. Still, it is fun to play around with from time to time. (Which I haven't done in at least 2 years.)
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Gary Shepherd
Carter D-10
www.16tracks.com
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Leon Grizzard
From:
Austin, Texas, USA
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Posted 24 Jun 2006 5:43 am
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My interest is just for use with notation software. With Finale, I'm sure you could indicate a bend by using an articulation mark after playing it in fingering the notes without the bend.
Have either of used your setups with notation software? Cautions or advice?
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Jon Moen
From:
Canada
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Posted 24 Jun 2006 8:48 am
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| Leon, notation is exactly why I bought mine. I use it with Sibeleus G7. I haven't used it a lot, but for what I have done it is great. Don't worry too much about the bend settings. On mine there are only 4 choices. It only takes a second to set it and because you can hear what you are playing, you don't have to do much pitch editing. |
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Jon Moen
From:
Canada
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Posted 24 Jun 2006 9:23 am
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| Also Leon, a GK-3 pickup allows you to adjust the radius to match your strings. The GK-2a has a fixed curve. |
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Jon Moen
From:
Canada
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Posted 24 Jun 2006 9:44 am
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Here is a picture of my 335 with a GK-3 pickup. There are absolutely no modifications to the guitar at all.
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Leon Grizzard
From:
Austin, Texas, USA
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Posted 24 Jun 2006 7:24 pm
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| Darn you guys for being so helpful; you make it sound do-able. I did a gig today with Vernon Worrell, who is getting pretty long in the tooth. He plays Texas Old Time Fiddle accompaniment on a couple of incredibly worn Gibson J-45's. Vernon plays in the style of the godfather of that genre, Omega Burdon (sic?). After the gig, Vernon was showing me his way of accompanying Whiskey Before Breakfast; I was thinking - I ought to be preserving this. |
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